The British charity Age Concern conducted a survey of 100,000 elderly people about their preferred funeral rites. The results suggest that being buried alive is a preoccupation, with many people asking to be certified dead, have a mirror held up to their face, or be buried with a cell phone.
Being buried alive is a primordial human fear, as it removes the quick or unconscious elements of natural death and forces a prolonged, solitary, premature head-on confrontation with mortality.
But rest assured, and in peace: These days, getting prematurely buried in a coffin is impossible. Even if you do fool the coroner, it’s impossible to cheat embalming.
